Another not surprising revelation coming out of Wikileaks is yet again a dirty hand by the U.S. government looking to make the best of a bad situation for itself. Mindanao is full of natural resources worth Billions of dollars at the same time also a warzone as people fight to control the land in the name of religion.

The Wikileak goes back to as far as 2003 when a letter was sent from Moro rebel chief Hashim Salamat to US President George W. Bush on Jan. 20, 2003. The letter was sent via the then U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Frank Riccardione in Manila in requesting assistance in the creation of the agreement between the Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the creation of the Moro homeland.

The issue being that the U.S. was looking at the Memorandum Of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) which was declared unconstitutional in 2008 (all about the money) where funds for socioeconomic projects in the Mindanao region would be handled by the World band and USAID.

The Arroyo administration at the time had serious concerns about the U.S. Government having too much economic control on the deal and just before its signing in August 2008 (Kuala Lumpur) in the presence of Ambassador Kristie Kenney it was leaked. The Chief negotiator General Hermogenes Esperon, apparently gave the document to then North Cotabato Governor Manny Piol who took it to the Philippines Supreme court to contest the agreement before the signing.

"We are therefore appealing to the basic principle of American fairness and sense of justice to use your good offices in rectifying the error that continues to negate and derogate the Bangsamoro People’s fundamental right to seek decolonisation under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 1514 (XV) of 1960. For this purpose, we are amenable to inviting and giving you the opportunity to assist in resolving this predicament of the Bangsamoro People," Salamat wrote to Bush.

Two years after the request by Salamat the United States held official meetings with MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim (Wikileaks 07MANILA3676 cable titled: Muslim Insurgent chairman, Malaysian Facilitator) which was a year after a meeting with MILF Vice Chairman for Political Affairs Ghadzali Jafaar (WikiLeaks 06MANILA1747 cable titled: MILF welcomes regular dialogue with US Embassy).

Both documents were classified and marked as “SECRET”.

Wikileaks Assange may be one of the oddest guys on the planet with a bizarre sex life, but the releases have caught the U.S. with their pants down all over the world especially at a time when it doesn’t need all the flack from international allies and partners during an economic crisis and downsizing of its empire. Does make me wonder where the phrase “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” fits in these days as the Gaddafi data that have come out this week also shows CIA having a dirty hand in Libya.